Friday, June 06, 2008

Basic black...

I'm bored with the blog layout. I'm in mourning for the loss of excitement I felt when the template was shiny and new. I tried to turn the background into something interesting, but I think now it's not the background that bores me, it's the general overall nature of it.

Therefore, be prepared to see some changes 'round here, iff'n I can figure out how to make 'em.

(And apparently it's talk like a gold miner day, what with all the 'iff'ns' n' shizz. Yee haw!)

What do I have in mind, you ax? Well, how about wider columns? How about cool lil' gadgets and widgets? How about archives that roll up? How about permalinking the entries?

Anybody know how to do this stuff? Some of y'all have designed your own very cool sites, and I'm beseeching you to give a girl a hand here.

No, not the APPLAUDING type of hand! The "helping hand" kind of hand.

No, not the kind of helping hand that requires a happy sock for after. Quit being so purposefully dense!

Question: If Barack Obama is half white and half black, why is he being called an African American candidate? Should he not more properly be called biracial?

Follow-on question: What's the cutoff for African Americanness? Is it quantifiable or is it qualitative? If you're of mixed race, do you decide what your label is? I'm looking for understanding here people, and welcome your input if you have some to give.

How does he describe himself, I wonder? Certainly he doesn't shun the white half of his heritage, but does he think of himself as black or biracial?

None of this really matters, of course. The color of one's skin does not determine anything more than the color of one's skin, after all. Whether you're white as snow, black as night, red as dawn, or yellow as a buttercup (to borrow those old awkward skin hue categories) really matters not one whit. Race shouldn't play a big part of how we view people, because it's what under the dermis that determines our worth, but we do feel the need to label ourselves to have an identity with some kind of group that shares at least some of what we believe we are.

The African bit is rather elegant in its directness, being as how his Dad is from Kenya and all, but that label ignores the biracialness of his parentage. I wonder, what part of his identity resonates with the caucasian parts of his genetics? Does he enjoy those typically white activities of eating Mayo and Wonder Bread sammiches, of playing badminton, of trouncing opponents in a rubber of bridge, of quaffing MGD on a hot summer afternoon while flame-grilling brats on the Weber? If those things DID resonate, would that then make him more acceptable to those people who say 'they'd never vote for a black man'?

And if so, WHY? Why would that make him more palatable to the people who believe that the color of one's skin determines your acceptability as a human being or your capability to lead, to make informed decisions, to reason, to work?

Well, maybe because he's then got something in common with them too. Maybe they'd be forced into recognizing him as a PERSON, not a threat.

This puzzles me, the labeling. I'd like to see the blend of his heritage be reflected in the label he's being assigned. I'd like to have that possibly divisive issue of race be blended into 'biracial,' forcing haters and lovers alike to acknowledge that he's a man of diverse background, of rich heritage, of drive and intelligence. I'd love to see the race card put down for good and all, so we can see the man instead of his skin.

I know, it's Friday, and there should be headlines, but go look yourself! They suck! They're all pretty much understandable, there seems to be no errors in grammar or spelling, there are no incomprehensibles in the lot, and so I am defeated for this Friday.

The is one pretty cool 'gee whiz' story that you should go read. It's cool what we humans can do. Sure wish we'd choose to do more of the cool and less of the uncool, ya know?

With that, I'm out. Have yourselves a great day, a wonderful weekend, and a beer for me.